HUMANITIES 2310 9.0A
An Introduction to Caribbean Studies
A Founders College Foundations Course
Course Directors:
Patrick Taylor
CERLAC, 824 YRT
taylorp@yorku.ca
416-736-2100 ext. 33320
Office Hours: Wed. 3:30-4:20; Fri. 9:30-10:20
Maxine Wood
259 Vanier College
416-736-2100 ext. 77380
maxinew@yorku.ca
Office Hours: Wed. 2:30-3:20; Fri. 11:30-12:20
Teaching Assistants:
Tanita Muneshwar
tanita@yorku.ca
Frank Scherer
fscherer@yorku.ca
Course Secretary:
Carolin Potter
207 Vanier College
416-736-2100 ext. 77014
cpotter@yorku.ca
Office Hours: Mondays - Fridays, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
YORK UNIVERSITY
TORONTO
2012-2013
1
HUMANITIES 2310 9.0A
Course Description:
This course introduces students to the major cultural characteristics of the contemporary
Caribbean in its global context through an examination of the work of scholars, writers, and
artists of the region and its diaspora. The course uses lectures, films and readings (scholarly
works, novels, short stories, poems, song lyrics and other texts) to explore the historical roots
and contemporary manifestations of the struggles for independence and national identity in the
region. The course also examines the role of race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality in the
negotiation of individual and collective identities. The course is pan-Caribbean in perspective but
emphasizes the experiences of the Anglophone Caribbean and its diaspora.
Learning Objectives:
1. Scholarly Content
The principal objective of this course is to enable students to understand and appreciate the
complexity of Caribbean peoples and cultures from an interdisciplinary humanities perspective.
In the process, students are expected to gain an understanding of colonialism and the postcolonial experience as they relate to the contemporary world. Students will be better able to
appreciate both cultural diversity and the underlying human values that characterize global life
today.
2. Transferable Critical Skills
This course is a second-year foundations course. As such, its goals include enhancing the ability
of students to think critically about their world and how it is represented. In addition, the course
aims to strengthen the capacity of students to read and analyze texts critically, pursue advanced
scholarly research using library and Internet resources, write clearly and persuasively, and
present their ideas orally in interesting and convincing ways.
Lecture: Wednesdays 12:30-2:30 p.m., SLH A
Tutorials:
01 Wednesday
02 Friday
03 Thursday
04 Wednesday
05 Friday
06 Friday
4:30-6:30
12:30-2:30
4:30-6:30
4:30-6:30
8:30-10:30
10:30-12:30
McLaughlin College 111
Ross N146
TEL 1016
McLaughlin College 112
McLaughlin College 109
Founders College 108
Required Readings:
*Shani Mootoo, Cereus Blooms at Night
Course Kit (Volume I, Fall 2012)
Course Kit (Volume II, Winter 2013)
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The book to be purchased is marked with an asterisk () on the course outline. Other readings are
available in two duplicated course kits to be purchased from the York University Bookstore, and
song lyrics, which will be provided.
Films:
Although most films will be shown during lectures, some may not be licensed for classroom use
and students may have to borrow them directly from the Scott Moving Image Library.
Course Evaluation
Essay # 1
Essay # 2
Mid-Term Test
First Research Proposal and Annotated Bibliography
Research Essay
Oral Presentation
Tutorial Participation
Final Exam
5%
10%
10%
10%
20%
10%
10%
25%
October 3, 2012
November 7, 2012
November 28, 2012
January 30, 2013
March 20, 2013
To Be Announced
The research essay will not be accepted without an annotated bibliography submitted within the
set deadline.
Enrolment and Drop Deadlines
Last date to enroll without permission of the instructor:
September 19, 2012
Last date to enroll with permission of the instructor:
October 23, 2012
Last date to drop course without receiving a grade:
February 15, 2013
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Humanities 2310 9.0A — 2012/2013
An Introduction to Caribbean Studies
Lectures and Readings
Term I
Week 01. September 5
Introduction to the Course
Week 02. September 12
The Caribbean: Context and Approach
Film: Life and Debt
Gordon K. Lewis, “The Sociohistorical Setting”
Stuart Hall, “Negotiating Caribbean Identities”
Mighty Gabby, “Jack” (song)
Week 03. September 19
Oral Tradition and Orality
Film: Talk and More Talk
Rex Nettleford, “Communication with Ourselves: The Caribbean Artist and Society”
Edward Kamau Brathwaite, “History of the Voice”
Louise Bennett, “Me Bredda” and “Bans a Killing” (poems)
Bob Marley, “Redemption Song” (song)
Mighty Duke, “What is Calypso” (song)
Week 04. September 26
Indigenous Cultures
Film: Indigenous Survivors
Irving Rouse, “Introduction” to The Tainos
“The First Missionary: Raymond Breton (1647)” and “Jean Baptiste Labat: A Sojurn in
Dominica (1722)” (missionary sources)
Week 05. October 03
ESSAY # 1 DUE
European Expansion and Indigenous Resistance
Film: The Sword and the Cross
Hilary Beckles, “Kalinago Resistance”
Garnette Joseph, “Five Hundred Years of Indigenous Resistance”
José Barreiro, “Survival Stories”
Mutabaruka, “Columbus Ghost” (poem)
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Week 06. October 10
The Atlantic Trade
Film: Ship of Slaves: Middle Passage
Joseph Inikori, “The Slave Trade and the Atlantic Economies, 1451-1870”
Eric Williams, “The Origin of Negro Slavery”
Week 07. October 17
Plantation Society
Film: Iron in the Soul (selection)
Vincent Bakpetu Thompson, “The Plantation Hierarchy”
Barbara Bush, “White ‘Ladies,’ Coloured ‘Favourites’ and Black ‘Wenches’
Edward Kamau Brathwaite, “Creolization”
Week 08. October 24
Resistance and Rebellion
Gordon K. Lewis, “The Anti-Slavery Ideology”
Verene Shepherd, “‘Petticoat Rebellion?’: the Black Woman’s Body and Voice in the Struggles
for Freedom in Colonial Jamaica”
FALL CO-CURRICULAR DAYS – OCTOBER 31-NOVEMBER 4
Week 09. November 07
ESSAY # 2 DUE
Feature Film: The Last Supper
Week 10. November 14
Emancipation
Film: Iron in the Soul (selection)
Bridget Brereton, “Society and Culture in the Caribbean”
Woodville K. Marshall, “‘We Be Wise to Many More Tings’: Black Hopes and Expectations of
Emancipation”
Olive Senior, “Window” (short story)
Jean Rhys, “Our Gardener” (poem) and Wide Sargasso Sea (selection)
Week 11. November 21
Indentureship
Film: Worlds Apart
Kusha Haraksingh, “Aspects of the Indian Experience in the Caribbean”
Rhoda Reddock, “Indian Women and Indentureship in Trinidad and Tobago 1845-1917”
Walton Look-Lai, “Life and Labor on the Plantations: The Chinese”
Cheddi Jagan, “Growing Up” (autobiography)
Week 12. November 28
MID-TERM TEST
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Term II
Week 1. January 9
Haiti: Revolution and Independence
Film: Out of Africa (selection)
Michel-Rolph Trouillot, “Culture, Colour and Politics”
Patrick Bellegarde-Smith, “The Context of Haitian Development and Underdevelopment”
Edwidge Danticat, “Children of the Sea” (short story)
David Rudder, “Haiti” (song)
Week 02. January 16
The French Caribbean: Political Integration and Cultural Identity
Film: La Grande Illusion
Justin Daniel, “The Construction of Dependency”
Frantz Fanon, “West Indians and Africans”
Aimé Césaire, “An Interview”
Léon Damas, “Bargain” “Hiccup” “Just Like the Legend”
Week 03. January 23
The Hispanic Caribbean: The Myth of Whiteness
Film: Paradise Lost
Michiel Baud, “Constitutionally White: The Forging of a National Identity in the Dominican
Republic”
Silvio Torres-Saillant, “Colonial Migration and Theoric Awakening”
Ana Lydia Vega, “The Day it all Happened” and “Port-au-Prince Below” (short stories)
Week 04. January 30
RESEARCH PROPOSAL AND ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRPAHY DUE
Cuba: Race, Nation and Revolution
Film: Havana Kids
José Martí, “Our America”
Franklin Knight, “Cuba: Politics, Economy and Society”
Nancy Morejón, “Race and Nation” and “Grounding the Race Dialogue: Diaspora and Nation”
Nicolás Guillén, “I Came on a Slave Ship” (poem)
Week 05. February 6
The Anglophone Caribbean: Nationalism and Independence
Film: Shades of Freedom
C.L.R. James, “From Toussaint L’Ouverture to Fidel Castro”
Percy Hintzen, “Race and Creole Ethnicity in the Caribbean
Louise Bennett, “Dear Departed Federation” and “Independence” (poems)
Short Shirt, “Illusion” (song)
Buju Banton, “Untold Stories” (song)
Mighty Sparrow “Federation”
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Week 06. February 13
Africa and Identity
Film: Out of Africa (selection)
Marcus Garvey, “Africa for the Africans,” and “Declaration of Rights of the Negro Peoples of
the World.”
Walter Rodney, “Black Power—Its Relevance to the West Indies”
Martin Carter, “I Come From the Nigger Yard” (poem)
Walcott, “A Far Cry From Africa” (poem)
Louise Bennett, “Back to Africa” (poem)
Chalkdust, “They ent see Africa at all” (song)
Bob Marley, “Africa Unite” (song)
WINTER READING WEEK FEBRUARY 16-22
Week 07. February 27
India, Mixed Identities and Pluralism
Film: Coolie, Pink and Green
Novel: Cereus Blooms at Night
V.S. Naipaul, “A Resting Place for the Imagination”
John La Guerre, “Issues Facing the East Indian Community”
Rhoda Reddock, “‘Douglarisation’ and the Politics of Gender Relations in Contemporary
Trinidad and Tobago”
Dougla, “Split me in two” (song)
Brother Marvin, “Jahaji Bhai”
Tony Wong, “Untitled” (autobiography)
Week 08. March 06
Religion, Festivals and Art
Film: Community Celebration
Novel: Cereus Blooms at Night
Leslie Desmangles, Stephen Glazier & Joseph Murphy “Religion in the Caribbean”
Veerle Poupeye, “Popular Religion, the Festival Arts and the Visionary”
Week 09. March 13
Gender and Sexuality
Film: The Darker Side of Black
Novel: Cereus Blooms at Night
Patricia Mohammed, “The ‘Creolization’ of Indian Women in Trinidad and Tobago”
Cecil Gutzmore, “Casting the First Stone: Policing of Homo/Sexuality in Jamaican Popular
Culture”
Edwidge Danticat, “Night Women” (short story)
Rajandaye Ramkisson-Chen, “When the Hindu Woman Sings Calypso” (poem)
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Week 10. March 20
RESEARCH ESSAY DUE
Negotiating Gender in Popular Culture
Feature Film: Dance Hall Queen
Sonjah Niah & Donna Hope “Canvasses of Representation: Stuart Hall, the Body and Dancehall
Performance”
Natasha Barnes, “Body Talk: Notes on Women and Spectacle in Contemporary Trinidad
Carnival”
Week 11. March 27
Diaspora and Globalization
Film: Jane Finch Again
Elizabeth Thomas-Hope, “Globalization and the Development of a Caribbean Migration
Culture”
Annemarie Gallaugher, “Constructing Caribbean Culture in Toronto”
Dionne Brand, “Going Home” (short story)
Austin Clarke, “The Discipline” (short story)
Louise Bennett, “Colonization in Reverse” (poem)
Week 12. April 03
Review
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